


A Night At The Drive-In

by decadent_mousse



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Biting, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Dates, First Kiss, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Making Out, Post-Canon, Psychological Trauma, but it's fairly low-key, well sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 15:38:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5211326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decadent_mousse/pseuds/decadent_mousse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris takes Josh out on a fun bro-date to a movie marathon at a drive-in to lift his spirits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Night At The Drive-In

**Author's Note:**

> I live in a world where Josh was rescued from the mines, because you will never convince me that his friends would just leave him there to eat people and/or die. At some point I will post a fic detailing my version of what happened, but for now just know that Josh did turn into a wendigo but got better.

The drive-in near their apartment was having a month-long monster marathon every night from sundown to sun-up.  All the classics.  Each night was a different monster, creature, or deranged and possibly undead killer.  It was the kind of thing Josh ate up.  Or, at least, it had been the kind of thing Josh ate up.  

Chris had asked him if he'd like to go, the first weekend, and Josh had given a vague excuse about feeling sick.  In his defense, he _had_  looked pale and tired, like he could be coming down with something, and hey, if he didn't want to go, he didn't want to go.  It had just seemed like something he would have enjoyed -- something they could've enjoyed together.  

It wasn't until the next day at work while he was digging through the coding on a new dating app that he realized that Saturday had been werewolf night.  That maybe -- just maybe -- Josh hadn't been thrilled by the prospect of watching a bunch of movies about people uncontrollably turning into man-eating monsters and, usually, getting put down violently in the end.

He'd sighed at his computer screen when it'd hit him.

_Real smooth, Chris._

That's why he was surprised when Josh asked him if he wanted to go the following Friday.

"Think they're showing vampire movies that night.  You… still wanna go?"

"Yeah, man!  I'd love to.  I just wasn't sure if you'd be feeling up to it."

"Well, I'm feeling a little better.  Besides, how can I say no to a classic movie marathon?"

He gave him a crooked smile that made his heart do a little flip.  It wasn't quite up to the level of Josh enthusiasm Chris had grown up with, but it was genuine.

~

The drive-in wasn’t exactly booming with people when they got there Friday night.

“Nobody appreciates the classics anymore,” Josh groused.  

“Maybe they just don’t appreciate drive-ins anymore.”

“Are you kidding me, man?  The screen is huge, the stars are out, what’s not to like?”

“Well, it’s been kinda cold at night.”

“It’s California.  It doesn’t get cold here.  Not for most people, anyway.”  He glanced at Chris -- more specifically the huge coat he was wearing, and the two shirts he had on underneath -- and grinned.  “Are you sure you wore enough to keep warm, Christopher?”

“You make fun of me now, but when the next ice age comes I’ll be warm and cozy while you’re freezing your ass off, dude.  Do you want popcorn?”

“Yeah.”

Chris popped open the door.  “Alright, I’ll be right back.”

He heard a shout of “Extra butter!” as he walked away from the car and smiled to himself.

~

They were on their second movie and third batch of popcorn before Chris noticed.  There was movement out of the corner of his eye, every once in awhile, and a discreet glance to his right confirmed his suspicions -- Josh “Nobody In California Gets Cold” Washington was rubbing his arms when he thought Chris wasn’t looking.

“You cold?”

Josh gave him a defeated look.  “Honestly?  I feel like I can never stay warm anymore.  Think that thing sucked the life outta me when it left.”

“The stuff I read,” Chris said, kicking at the grass absently, “called wendigos ‘ice cannibals.’  Maybe…”  He trailed off with a frown.

Josh nudged him with an elbow.  “Maybe it left something _in_ , you mean?”

" _Or_ your inner thermostat or whatever is just still a little screwed up from everything?  Maybe you just need time to recover, you know?"

Josh's head lolled back against his headrest.  "Yeah, maybe.  Could even be my new meds."

"Are the side effects bad?"

"Not so far.  If getting a few goosebumps is the worst of it, it's lightyears better than the shit I was taking before.  Starting to wish I'd brought a jacket, though."

Josh had been right earlier -- October in California really wasn't that cold.  Chris had known _he'd_  need a jacket, because at this point in his life he was resigned to being cold intolerant, but it hadn't even occurred to him to tell Josh to bring a sweater or anything.  He usually handled the cold way better than he did.  

When they'd been kids, Josh had always wrapped him up in warm hugs on cold days.  He'd never let Chris freeze if he could help it.  Maybe now it was time for him to return the favor.  He shrugged out of his coat.  It was a little tricky to pull off in the car with limited arm room, but he managed to pull it off -- eventually.

“What’re you doing?” Josh asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Keeping my best friend from freezing his ass off, that’s what.  Come here.”

He gave him a small smile that quickly turned into a grin.  “ _You_  are a lifesaver, my man.”

When he scooted into range, Chris spread the coat out across the both of them.  The inside was fluffy and insulated -- it’d probably do the job of makeshift blanket well enough to warm Josh up.  At least enough so that he wouldn’t be shivering and miserable all night long.

Josh’s hand brushed across his arm and it was like getting touched with an ice cube.  

"Your hands are freezing, dude.  Here."

Chris took his hands and wrapped his own around them, rubbing gently.  He rubbed his fingers and then rubbed upward along the backs of his hands and up along his wrists.  His arms weren't as cold as his hands, at least.

"Should've taken a page out of your book and worn ten layers.”

"Ha ha, very funny.  At least _I'm_  not the one freezing his ass off."

"That's because you’re radiating heat like a human furnace."

“Bro, you and I both know I’ve got the body heat of a flat Pepsi, that’s _why_  I wear the layers.”

He’d always had trouble staying warm when the weather started cooling down in the fall.  His mom had always sent him to school bundled up in as many sweaters and scarves as he could wear while still being able to walk around all day.  By the time he started dressing himself, wearing several layers had just become a way of life.  Josh had made a life-long tradition out of teasing him about it.

“This isn’t working very well,” he finally said with a sigh.  “Hold on a sec.”

He let go of Josh’s hands, blew hot air onto his own hands and rubbed them together as fast as he could to try to generate more heat.

“Are you trying to start a fire?” Josh joked.

“I’m _trying_  to make sure you don’t freeze to death before the night’s over.”

“If I can handle a couple weeks in a mine I’m pretty sure I’ll survive a movie marathon in October, bro.”

Chris froze.

“That was-- uh--”

“No.  No, it’s okay.”

Sooner or later they were going to have to sit down and actually _talk_  about what happened, both before Josh was taken and after, and what had happened after Chris had finally found him, but neither of them were really ready for that and a drive-in probably wasn’t the ideal place to have a heart-to-heart about near-death experiences and spirit possession.

"Okay, let's try this again."

Josh offered him his hands.  "Work your magic, Cochise!"

Chris took his hands and started rubbing them again.  Then brought them close to his mouth and huffed more warm air onto them.

He glanced upward with a smile.  "Is it working?"

Josh bit his lip and stared at him thoughtfully for a minute.  Then he leaned in and kissed him.

It wasn't their first kiss.  They'd smooched each other on the cheek more than once as kids.  Josh had still done it, sometimes, in high school and later.  There'd been more than one drunken makeout session, too, when all either of them could remember was the vague impression of wet, sloppy kisses, but it was never weird, because he loved Josh.  This one wasn't weird, either, but it was a bit different, in a way Chris really couldn't pin down in words.  It was like another piece of the Chris/Josh puzzle had clicked into place.  

Josh pulled away, a bit, and stared at him intently -- like he was trying to gauge his reaction.  

Chris let out a soft breathless laugh.  "That was… nice."

“ _Nice_?”

“Yeah, it was… good.  It was really, really… uh, good.”

His brain to mouth network connection had picked a really terrible time to go down.

Josh grinned and glanced down at his mouth, and that was all the warning Chris had before he was being kissed again.  It was a little more confident than the first one.  Chris leaned in, a bit, dimly aware that the movie was starting somewhere in the background.  He reached up to cup the back of Josh’s neck and moved upward from there, running his fingers through his hair.  Josh made a noise somewhere between a whine and a moan.  They broke apart again, both breathing heavily.

He felt a little giddy and lightheaded, and he wasn’t sure if it was just a headrush from _kissing Josh_  or if all the heavy breathing had eaten up the oxygen in the car.

Josh pressed in close against him.  "Damn, you're hot."

"No, I'm just warm and you're really _cold._ "

"That pick-up line total flew over your head, didn't it?"

"No," Chris grinned, ducking his head a little.  "I noticed."

"Are you _blushing_?  Shit, that's cute."

He felt an arm snake around his waist as Josh laid his head on his shoulder.  "This is nice."

"Yeah, it is."

Huddled together with the insulated lining of his coat, he could feel Josh warming up.  He was pretty sure he felt something else under the coat, too.  Josh was pressed up against him pretty tight.

"If your body temp doesn't start leveling out on its own, you'll probably have to start wearing thermal underwear or something."

"Or grow fur."

"Dude, you were a wendigo not a yeti."  

The words were out of his mouth before he had time to think about it, but Josh just laughed.

"You think yetis exist, too?"

"I try not to think too hard about what might or might exist," Chris said honestly.  "If they do, I hope _I_  never run into one.  Think I've had enough run-ins with mythical creatures for one lifetime."

"I could always just snuggle up against you whenever I get cold."

Chris chuckled.  "I approve of that plan.  Definitely better than fur."

"Definitely better than thermal underwear."

Josh nuzzled his neck and kissed him there, just a soft brush against his skin that gave him goosebumps.

"You're gonna miss the movie if you keep this up." Chris warned.

"Right, because it's not like I haven't seen Dracula a hundred times before."  He felt him giggle against his throat.  "I vant to suck your blood!"

"You're a dork," Chris laughed.  "Pay attention to the movie."

"I'm multitasking."

Josh nosed his jaw and it was adorable but his _nose_  was still really cold and it made him squirm.

"Are you trying to make out with me or are you just trying to stay warm?"

"A little bit of both."

He turned his head and caught Josh's mouth when he darted in to nuzzle his face again.  "I really like kissing you."

Josh grinned against his mouth.  "I've always liked kissing you."

"Yeah, but I _really_  like it, Josh."

"Bro, I know you love me," Josh murmured, nipping at his bottom lip.  "I hate to break it you, Christopher, but you aren't exactly subtle."

"Wasn't trying to hide it."

Loving Josh came as naturally as breathing.  He'd always loved him -- he was his best friend.  This -- whatever exactly “this” was -- was just icing on the cake.

Josh kissed a path along his jawline and nibbled lightly at a spot just below his ear.  Chris’ heart was pounding so hard, he was sure Josh had to be able to feel it.

“You like that, Cochise?”

Chris tilted his head back and sank into his seat, hands on Josh's hips.  Josh kept licking and sucking and biting, and it hurt a little bit, but not in a bad way.

He groaned.  "You're killing me."

"Hey, there's worse ways to die," Josh joked.

He knew.  He'd seen them.  He'd seen a man get his head ripped off his shoulders before he even had time to realize he was dead.  And that was _so_  not what he wanted to be thinking about right now.  Josh must've felt him tense, because he pulled back to look at him, hair mussed and lips swollen -- _that_  was the image Chris wanted in his head.  

"You okay?"

"Yeah, my brain just sort of... wandered in some bad directions."

"Brains are assholes."

"Yeah."

Guiltily, he realized Josh probably knew that a lot better than he did.

"It's okay to be a little fucked up after what happened.  Are you okay?  Do you want to stop?"

"No fucking way."  Chris shook his head vigorously.  "To the stopping part, I mean."  

Probably to the "not okay" part, too, but it was the crap circulating in his head that was the problem -- not Josh.  What was happening now was great -- it was perfect.  He wanted very much to exist in the now, not in the past.  He wanted to be there in that car with Josh, because that what mattered.  They were both here and alive and together.  Which was kind of miraculous after everything they’d both been through.

"I really want to kiss you again," he breathed, still staring at Josh's mouth.

"I have been known to have that effect on people,” Josh said, like the smarmy little shit he was, before leaning in to kiss him again.

~

By the time they were done making out, they’d missed at least half an hour of the movie and Chris had no idea what was going on anymore.  With the movie, at least.  He was pretty sure he knew what was going on between him and Josh.  

Josh, who was nestled against him, warm now, with his head on his shoulder again.

“Okay,” Chris said, staring at the big screen.  “What did I miss?  Why are they running around in a maze and making out?  Why is it raining?  Weren’t they sitting around talking about their boyfriends a minute ago?”

“Are you seriously telling me you have _never_  seen this movie?  Really?”

“Maybe, like… once.   _Years_  ago.”  

Josh sighed indignantly.  “Okay, so what’s happening is…”

They spent the next fifteen minutes of the movie going over the more confusing plot points of the movie in detail, and Chris still wasn’t sure that he fully understood what the hell he was watching -- especially after a particularly creepy sex scene -- but watching Josh enthusiastically talk about his feelings about 90s era vampire movies made the whole thing worthwhile.  

As far as first dates went, it was pretty nice.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic almost ended up being called "Butter My Popcorn," because I am a pun-loving nerdlord.
> 
> [This](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker%27s_Dracula) is the movie they were watching towards the end. That movie holds a special place in my heart, but even I have to admit some parts of it seem to just sort of _happen_ randomly for no clear reason and can be confusing if you look away for a minute or two ~~to make out with your boyfriend~~.


End file.
